I am currently reading Charles W. Deweese’s classic entitled Baptist Church Covenants in preparation for the publication of our membership covenant here at Lakeview.  I would like to share a number of thought-provoking quotes from Deweese and my subsequent reflections.

     Deweese writes:

Baptists worldwide have written and used hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of church covenants since initiating that development in England in the early 1600’s.  They had viewed covenants, along with believer’s baptism and church discipline, as means of nurturing and safeguarding the New Testament emphasis on a regenerate church membership.  Covenants deserve careful evaluation because they helped shape Baptist church membership standards and practices. 

     Deweese points out some pretty important facts in the above quote.  First, church covenants have been an important aspect of Baptist history for over four hundred years.  Churches have used covenants as a means to promote holy living and accountability in the church.  Church covenants serve to promote and support the idea of regenerate church membership.  Secondly, Deweese emphasized the focus on regenerate church membership in the New Testament.  Throughout the New Testament there is an emphasis on members of the church being authentic followers of Christ who possess and live out a living faith in Christ Jesus.

     In addition, Deweese writes about what Baptists historically understood regarding church membership.  He states:

Early Baptists based their church membership ideals and practices upon New Testament patterns.  They reached four basic conclusions:  (1) admission standards for membership should be high; (2) believer’s baptism is essential for membership and helps safeguard the regenerate nature of church life; (3) church members should consistently meet biblical requirements for doctrinal soundness, moral purity, spiritual growth, covenant relationship, and active ministry; and (4) discipline should be administered for serious failures to meet the covenantal expectations of church membership.

     When you read the above quote, do you believe it describes our approach to membership here at Lakeview?  How do we measure up to these four historical characteristics of church membership?  Are our admission standards for membership high?  Do we teach about baptism, its understanding and importance?  Do we communicate and hold members accountable for biblical fidelity in belief and practice of living?  Do we administer church discipline to restore members to covenant living?  If we cannot answer affirmatively to these questions, we as a church must raise our expectations for church membership.

     In addition to delineating the biblical and historical requirements for church membership, Deweese bemoans the modern phenomena of low expectations for church membership.  He rightly cautions:

A dilemma facing contemporary Baptists in America is how to reconcile mounting trends toward an uncommitted church membership with doctrinal statements that require a committed membership.  The stakes are high, and the regenerate quality of much Baptist church life is at risk.  Evidence of the problem includes baptizing thousands of preschoolers, frequent requests for re-baptism by persons already baptized as “alleged” believers, little concern for candidates’ qualifications for membership, weak admission standards and procedures, inadequate attention to defining and carrying out membership responsibilities, decreased use of covenants and discipline, large numbers of nonresident members, and numerous inactive resident members.

     As I read Deweese’s comments regarding the modern church, I am convicted about our membership here at Lakeview.  During the interim, our leadership began to focus upon the issue of regenerate church membership and the problem of “inactive” church membership.  Currently, we have 1307 members on our church role (362 non-resident members, 345 inactive members, and 600 active members).  We currently average about 450 in our worship attendance.  Currently, we have no church covenant.  The number of inactive members, non-resident members, and the discrepancy between the number of “active” members and our average worship attendance all indicate a need for our church to focus on the meaning of covenant church membership.  In the next blog posts, I will present more from Deweese and will delineate our need for covenant church membership and why such a covenant approach is biblical, historically Baptist, and necessary for the health of our church.  I pray our church will be edified by my focus on this important issue.

Loving God and Loving Our Neighbor,

Pastor Tim